Discusses healthcare, common concerns

BRUSSELS — The Brussels Legion post was given the honor of a visit from the Commander of the American Legion in Illinois, who dropped by to chat with veterans.

The Legion is organized into state chapters, and Cheri Stanton, who heads the Illinois based arm of the organization, is the first female in Illinois to hold the distinction. Stanton, who was in the Navy from 1966 to 1969, worked as an air traffic controller.

Stanton has long been active with the the Legion, and joked that since she has held nearly every other position in the organization, taking the top job was the only thing left.

About three dozen members from several area posts attended the meeting, which was preceded by a meal fixed by the women of the Legion’s Auxiliary.

Stanton, who spent much of her career as a teacher, started off with a presentation about how Monopoly boards stuffed with contraband were sent to Allied POWs during WWII. They were slipped into POW camps via the Red Cross — a dot on the side of the box indicated if it held contraband.

“In that game they had a workable compass that you could use,” she said, “and also within the game there was Monopoly money, but inside that was money for the area where the board game was sent to.”

On the back, she said, was a silk map of Axis territories.

Following the presentation, Stanton moved on to more serious matters. She fielded questions from veterans about problems with the Veteran’s Administration healthcare system. She spoke about the impact Agent Orange, the deadly herbicide used during the Vietnam War, had on members of the armed forces. One of the top priorities of the Legion, she said, is to make sure members impacted by Agent Orange are properly recognized if they develop complications.

Stanton, who criss-crosses Illinois visiting different Legion posts, said these are common concerns from veterans. The American Legion, she said, exists precisely to fight for veterans, to make sure they receive the services they are entitled to, and to make sure no one falls through the cracks.

A big part of this is keeping the heat up on Congress. The Legion was one of the chief proponents of the GI Bill, Stanton said, which has covered education costs for discharged service members since the end of World War II. Today, much of their focus is on healthcare issues.

“We are trying to keep Congress informed so that the veterans don’t fall through the cracks,” Stanton said. “We’ve got lots of congressmen now who are not veterans, they don’t have any veterans in their families, so they don’t worry about us… Congress is no longer patriotic. It takes all this baby kissing to get in, but once they get in they forget about the little people.”

Stanton said veterans, who often come out of the service with significant wear and tear to their bodies and minds, were promised they would be taken care of, and through the Legion, she hopes to see that promise kept.

“We want to make sure [older veterans] are taken care of so that gradually it will trigger on down to the Afghanistan and Iraq and other veterans,” Stanton said, “because if, say, the Vietnam era is taken care of, younger veterans will see that as a good sign that they will be taken care of later.”

Stanton said the Legion also serves an important social function in the lives of its members, who share a common experience, and are able to have a camaraderie which enables them to discuss their experiences. For soldiers who have endured hardship, Stanton said, this can be particularly significant.

The Legion is also active in giving back to communities. Aside from all the local events and projects taken on by Legion posts, she points out the Legion has donated millions of hours to VA hospitals, and the auxiliary has donated over a billion hours.

The main thing Stanton wants people to take away from her visits is that her ear at the Legion.

“As long as veterans need our help, we will be here to serve,” she said.